Brock Larson Cut by UFC; Blames Undercard Status for Performances
by Brent Brookhouse on Nov 25, 2009 4:31 PM EST
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MMAJunkie.com with the report:
With a TKO loss to Brian Foster at this past weekend's UFC 106 event, UFC welterweight Brock Larson will now look for work outside the organization.
The veteran fighter today confirmed with MMAjunkie.com he was cut from the UFC's roster following the Nov. 21 defeat.
Larson leaves the organization with a 26-4 record, which included a 3-3 mark in the UFC and a 4-1 record in the WEC.
"It's probably a good thing," Larson stated via text message. "I was having a hard time getting motivated for my last two fights. I needed a change. The undercards just didn't do it for me."
Far be it from me to question the motivations of a professional athlete but the idea that Larson was unable to get motivated by being on the undercard seems like a cheap excuse. The idea that he was so upset by being on the undercard that he couldn't focus would seem to fly in the face of the logic that suggests "put on a show and give them a reason to move you to the main card."
Getting beat by Mike Pierce wasn't going to move him up to the main card. If rebounding from the loss and proving himself wasn't enough to motivate Larson than I have some serious questions about how successful he will be in the future. Instead, Larson was dominated in every aspect of the game by a heavy underdog in Brian Foster.
The truth is, most fights on UFC shows make the air these days. Is fighting for Strikeforce, DREAM or WVR really going to provide enough "visibility" to motivate him that much more?
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A lot of people saw his last fight.
Keep firing Assholes!
In Idaho, it's illegal to f--- a porcupine. You know why? Because someone tried it.
That's exactly it...
now with the UFC regularly having a 4 hour broadcast (1 on spike, 3 on PPV) unless a card is a decisionfest most of the event is going to get shown
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by Brent Brookhouse on Nov 25, 2009 4:06 PM EST up reply actions
I believe that he really wasn’t motivated.
But that’s nobody’s fault but his own.
And that’s not a smart way to look at things.
I honestly felt that after Larson’s submission win over Pyle that Larson was on his way to be a top Welterweight. He really doesn’t seem motivated, which is ridiculous and as shown with his fight against Foster, extremely dangerous to his health.
i'm sure larson will be real motivated once he gets into king of the cage. lol
yes i am obsessive, obnoxious, in your face and all about covering the spread. those are my good qualities.
by wolfmanshowlforever on Nov 25, 2009 11:49 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Strikeforce will
He is guarenteed to be on Showtime where with the UFC it was maybe the fight will air maybe not.
Plus now that he’s outside the UFC he is sure to win a few matches and shoot up the rankings ala a Jorge Santiago.
Jorge just lost to Khalidov in Sengoku, so even outside of the UFC, you have to beat good competition and keep on winning.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Nov 25, 2009 4:24 PM EST up reply actions
But before that he did shoot up the rankings
I forget where but 1 site had him at #3 before this loss and yeah where he might have been winning and beating ok competetion he did not deserve the #3 spot in the mw rankings.
- or #7 is has high as I saw him go. Not sure but if he was as high as #3, then it prob wasn’t a site people go for to see rankings anyways. =)
by MMASuPreMaCy on Nov 25, 2009 4:34 PM EST up reply actions
It’s going to be harder to rack up easy wins in a place like Strikeforce. Take MWs for example: they are signing up a lot of decent MW – Matt Lindland, Jacare, Jason Miller, Robbie Lawler, Jake Shields (now that he’s fighting at MW), Cung Le, and Tim Kennedy. They also have guy like Frank Shamrock, Scott Smith, and Benji Raddah. who are not world beaters by any stretch of the imagination but not cans either. Throw in Dream guys like Paulo Filho (if he can fight), Karl Amoussou Melvin Manhoef, and the occasional Hector Lombard, Misaki, and Santiago and you can no longer take it for granted you’ll get 2 or 3 easy victories for every tough fight. Sure it’s not like facing Silva, Nate, or Hendo (at least not yet) in the UFC, but you’d still have to face their Belchers, Bispings, and Sonnens.
by John Nash on Nov 25, 2009 5:27 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Yeah, but we’re talking about WW here. There’s a steep decline between Jay Hieron, Jake Shields (if he goes back down), and the rest of the WWs in Strikeforce. I can’t event think of who the top guy beneath those two would be. Joe Riggs maybe?
Ever heard of Diaz, Galvao, Whitemare, or Woodley?
=)
by MMASuPreMaCy on Nov 25, 2009 5:58 PM EST up reply actions
Why Galvao and Woodley?
They’re still just prospects.
Who’s Whitemare?
Diaz is top 10 and an exciting fighter, but I won’t drink his kool-aid until he beats a great wrestler.
Maybe that’s why he’s better off in Strikeforce.
Marius “The Whitemare” Zaromskis, better known as the DREAM WW Champ.
=)
by MMASuPreMaCy on Nov 25, 2009 6:37 PM EST up reply actions
The UFC has definitely got the top talent of the WW and LHW division basically locked up. But if you look at the Strikeforce/Dream stable:
Jake Shields, Jay Heiron, Evangelista Santos, Nick Diaz, Marius Zaromskis, Hayato Sakurai, Joe Riggs, and maybe Cung Le if he starts to cut plus prospects like Tyron Woodley and Andre Galvao these are of the same level as the guys Larson has already been fighting in the UFC. Going to Strikeforce won’t be a noticeable drop from Jesse Sanders, Mike Pyle, Mike Pierce, and Brian Foster. He just won’t have to worry about facing a GSP, Fitch, or Koscheck when he gets to main card status. Although, as much as it pains me to say it, Jake Shields might be there with those guys.
Seriously?
You think Shields is on the same level as GSP? I dont even think he is on the same level as Fitch or Alves but there is zero chance of him being on the same level as GSP.
I meant I’d put him up with the elite of the WWs. I’d still pick GSP over him. But you got to hand it to the guy, he’s got 13 straight wins over quality opponents. He beat Condit and Daley who are both talked as potential contenders in the UFC. And he’s beaten three pretty good MW in Miller, Lawler, and Okami. Hard to name another WW (outside of GSP) with currently a better resume.
I have him ranked 4th overall
I like him. I do but I think GSP, Fitch, and Alves are better right now.
I will wait to see how Alves does in his next fight but Fitch to me is a guy who can beat everyone except for GSP.
Shields would get mopped up in the UFC his last fight was one dimesional and lack luster at best. I think he would suffer a terrible fate in the UFC the same as perhaps Thales leites.
Really? He’d get mopped up even though he’s already beaten 3 UFC WWs in Mike Pyle, Carlos Condit, and Paul Daley, and a UFC MW, Yushin Okami. I think the record shows he’d do pretty good.
That Okaami fight was far from a dominating win. The fight could easily of been scored for Okami sence he dominated the last half of the 2nd and the whole 3rd round. If those 2 fought again my $$$ is on Okami this time around. And Shields was lucky to walk out of the Daley fight.. I myself don’t see Shields having much success in the UFC’s WW devision at all.
Actually I had Okami winning that fight, but you got to give Shields some credit for keeping it so close. Okami just dwarfed him. As for Daley and other strikers, I thought the same thing when he fought Lawler and he shut me up. He’s got terriible standup and yet he’s beaten Daley, Lawler, Miller, and Thompson. He may win ugly and seems lucky but he keeps winning, and not against stiffs either. That’s got to mean something.
True in my mind there is nodout he is a top 10 fighter at ww and mw now. Top 5 or 3 I just don’t ever see. There are alot of bad match ups for him at bolth weight classes he has never fought because 99% are in the UFC. Bottom line is Shields needs sometime in the future to move to the UFC WW devision.
Missing the glory days when he and Condit ruled the WEC…the bright lights, the epic crowds…eh. This is pretty surprising from Brock. He never seemed like a guy who lacked fire.
by Kwisatz Haderach on Nov 25, 2009 4:16 PM EST reply actions
Was his name too similar to Lesnar’s or something? The only letter in his last name not in Brock’s is the O.
by MMAInFeRioRiTy on Nov 25, 2009 4:26 PM EST reply actions
Getting beat by Mike Pierce wasn’t going to move him up to the main card.
No, but subbing his first 2 opponents after coming back to the UFC and earning a Sub of the Night to boot should be enough to earn a main card spot. (Not to mention a fight against Mike Pierce, who hadn’t even fought in the UFC at the time.) I think he got the short end of the stick in the end, despite his negative attitude, which I do not agree with.
You might be able to argue that he should have made 106 instead of Thiago/Volkmann
but the reason he didnt make UFN 19 is because that was a great card. Literally who would you have kicked off that card to make room for Brock?
Not shocking, given his last two outings, but kind of shocking given the hype he had 8 months ago. What a quick fall.
by Cory Braiterman on Nov 25, 2009 4:29 PM EST reply actions
Brock Larson
Is fighting for Strikeforce, DREAM or WVR really going to provide enough “visibility” to motivate him that much more?
Only a bit more visibility than WEC provided, and he seemed to do just fine there.
A lame excuse. Nothing more.
...Behold, a pale horse. The man that sat upon it was Wieters, and hell followed with him.
"BJ on the BE" - Kierkegaard
From the UG:
Nice excuses. More like Larson was having a hard time dealing with tougher competition. I always liked Larson but the truth is he’s always struggled against good competition. He’s sort of the 170 version of Denis Kang.
by Nick Thomas on Nov 25, 2009 4:48 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Larson could have fought Pierce and Foster outside of the UFC a long time ago. I don’t buy this. He beat Alessio, Prater, Nakamura, and Pyle (which was easy competition) but when he stepped up to the likes of Pierce and Foster, he couldn’t win? Whut? =)
by MMASuPreMaCy on Nov 25, 2009 5:02 PM EST up reply actions
When you are in the public eye, and you get fired.....
…. you’d say nearly anything to save face. He’s probably embarrassed, he had to say SOMETHING.
How about this
“I am definitely disappointed in my performance the last couple times out. I just gotta go back to the drawing board, figure out what I’m doing wrong, and work hard to get back. I know I’m good enough to be here and it’s nobody’s fault but my own that I’m in this position so I’m just gonna give it my all and I think I’ll be back in the UFC sooner rather than later.”
He could have said that but he decided to be honest instead.
Keep firing Assholes!
In Idaho, it's illegal to f--- a porcupine. You know why? Because someone tried it.
by Ubernoober on Nov 25, 2009 11:36 PM EST up reply actions 4 recs
Sounds like a famous case of sour grapes
I can’t imagine that he actually thinks anyone will buy it though.
I was shocked by his last 2 outings. He just did not look like the Brock Larson of the wec. Tentative, scared, no explosiveness. Maybe just a big fish/small pond phenomena.
The undercards just didn't do it for me
????
you can’t get excited for being on the undercard of the biggest show on the planet at the moment? You know that the undercard on a UFC event is seen by more people then almost all of the other main events held in the same month right. Brock Larson, my god man, pull your head out of your ass, you just blew what is quite possibly the biggest chance of your life.
Taking a Text out of Context?
Okay pretty much everybody including Brent seem to jumping down his throat for a simple text message.
Calm down folks! This just might be a simple case of nothing to see here.
Let me break it down a different way.
"It’s probably a good thing (How dare he stay positive about the future, UFC or bust!), I was having a hard time getting motivated for my last two fights (Sure looked like it!). I needed a change (Fighters that don’t change lose). The undercards just didn’t do it for me.(Did he blame the UFC for putting him on the undercard?)
Fighting in a mostly empty stadium probably isn’t all that motivating. Maybe it would be courteous to give the guy the benefit of the doubt for a bit.
I really dislike people that reply to there own comments, so if I’m bugging you sorry.
As Joe Rogan has said recently on Josh Gross’s webcast that UFC is a business that has to make exciting fights. It biggest focus isn’t about the sport of MMA no matter what Dana tells you. It’s about making money. Ask the other Brock, Vitor Belfort, Tito, or many of the PPV percentage fighters and the many injuries between them.
Some fighters crave sporting competition more than they crave the money and I believe Brock Larson is one of them. Jeremy Horn is another. They have no place in the UFC.
Anderson Silva is looking hard toward retirement, Rampage did Randy did, Tim Silvia, and AA . UFC contracts are slave contracts and some people just don’t want to perform under them. A UFC contract is very effective in controlling a fighters earnings. They HAVE to fight to get paid. It’s a big change of from, “hey I get paid to fight!” Sure being a star in the UFC pays very well, but being owned as a fighter is contrary to many peoples base motivation for fighting.
Good luck Rampage & AA I hope the movies do relatively well.
They HAVE to fight to get paid
Well duh, just like I have to show up to my job everyday to get paid. Do you not have to fight in Strikeforce to get paid? Or DREAM? If these guys crave sporting competition like you say then they should be able to get up for a fight no matter how many people are watching right? This whole argument is ridiculous. Anderson Silva is looking towards retirement because that’s his leverage to get a bigger contract. Randy Couture retired- then came back, FOR MORE MONEY. Tim Sylvia left and then got a raise of 800%. These guys don’t care what the contract says, they just care about the numbers that come after the $. Dan Henderson was making $50,000 a fight in PRIDE 2 years ago, now he’s turning down contracts that would pay him 5-10 times that amount. It’s all about the benjamins for the UFC, that’s true, but it’s the same with the fighters, they are no better or worse.
It’s all about the benjamins for the UFC, that’s true, but it’s the same with the fighters, they are no better or worse.
I think your making what I mean is my point. I’m not just “blaming” UFC management. Although the bonus and PPV percentages really sets the tone.
But, no to some of your other points, you don’t have to fight in Strikeforce to get paid. You can likely go to Japan if they aren’t offering a good opportunity.
As for jobs no I can go to another similar job somewhere else. Yes there are non compete clauses, but they are most often limited in time and distance to be legal. Even if they aren’t you could still do other things in a similar industry that you have some qualifications in such as boxing.
Your money figures mean nothing to me really. I don’t comprehend numbers like that well. The culture has been make culture where fighters are shown respect in “extra” money. I have not problem with them then asking for “their share” of the money. Yah, the paydays are exploding, BUT so is the UFC and other promotions paydays and opportunities. They are also 5-10 times larger than they were 2 years ago and the future isn’t so unstable. If your going to require fighters to have exclusivity in the future then you should expect to pay FUTURE prices.
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